The present invention relates mainly to a method for forming image using a transferring material for use as a color proof or display for color correction.
A method comprising exposing a light-sensitive laminate comprising a temporary support, and a peelable layer made of an organic polymer and a light-sensitive resin layer provided on the support, developing the laminate to form an image on the peelable layer, and then transferring the image onto a suitable support is known, as described, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 15326/71 and 441/74 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,557. This method can be used in the overlay type or surprint type as a color proof, but has disadvantages in that the process is complicated because it is necessary to use an adhesive for each transfer, and accurate positioning in transferring each color is difficult.
To avoid the complexity of such a method, a method transferring an image onto an image-receiving sheet by application of heat and pressure after forming the image has been developed as described in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) Nos. 41830/72, 93337/83, and 5101/76 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,836 (the term "OPI" as used herein means a "published unexamined Japanese patent application"). Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 5101/76 discloses a method in which a heat meltable polymer layer is provided on a permanent support as an adhesive, and Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 41830/72 discloses a method in which an image is transferred directly to a permanent support such as art paper or coated paper.
These methods, however, have the following disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is that the final image is a virtual image of the original. Another disadvantage is that when a heat meltable polymer is used which melting point is generally high, high transferring temperature is necessarily applied. By the heat dimensional stability of the support is degraded, and deviations in positioning during transferring of each color increase. Still another advantage is that in a case of using a polymer having a low melting point when some of final products are piled, adhesion between surfaces of the final product or a surface thereof and a surface of a permanent support of the final product readily occurs, or scratches are readily formed after images are obtained.
A method for overcoming the above problems is described in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 97410/84 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,625. In accordance with this method, before transferring an image of each color on a permanent support, the image of each color is first transferred to a temporary image-receiving sheet with a photopolymerizable receiving layer, and then the image is again transferred to a permanent support and the photopolymerizable image-receiving layer is solidified by light exposing the whole surface.
This method is very effective in overcoming the above problems. In accordance with this method, a positive image in relation to the mask original can be obtained, the photopolymerizable image-receiving layer itself is soft because it contains a polyfunctional ethylenical monomer, and although transferring can be carried out at a low temperature, the adhesion is good and scratch resistance is good because the photopolymerizable image-receiving layer is solidified by exposure to light.
The above method, however, has the following disadvantages: (1) the process is complicated because a post-exposure step is needed, (2) when the support of the photopolymerizable image-receiving layer is smooth, the surface of an image transferred to the final support possesses luster, and, therefore, in order to produce an image having similarity to a printed matter, it is necessary for the surface to be roughened using, for example, a mat film, as a result of which the process is made complicated, and (3) if an initiator, for example, in the photopolymerizable image-receiving layer is colored even to a small extent, the whiteness of the paper is reduced.
The present invention is intended to overcome the above problems (1) to (3).
That is, the objects of the present invention is to obtain an image which is increased in similarity to a printed matter as a result of obtaining unevenness of paper and further increased in the whiteness of nonimage areas without steps of post-exposure and matting but only by peeling after the transferred image which is obtained by transferring the transferrable image to an image-receiving sheet is transferred to a permanent support such as paper, a metallic plate, a plastic film and cloth.